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PAKISTAN: And Then There Was Light

Zofeen Ebrahim

THATTA, Sindh, Mar 25 2011 (IPS) - Hasan Ibrahim’s tea stall is the busiest place in the sleepy, sand-dune covered village of Sholani, proof of the economic and social change the arrival of electricity has ushered in.

The place literally lights up and comes alive every night as some 30 people savour the newly discovered wonders of television. And with the ongoing Cricket World Cup on, the tea stall is pulling in another 40 people from neighbouring villages.

Since a free solar panel was installed outside his shop just six months ago, Ibrahim’s income has tripled. He owns a small black-and-white television and charges anyone who comes to watch 5 rupees (5 cents). Invariably, people would want some tea, for which he charges another 10 rupees. He sells a packet of ‘ghutka’ – a concoction of betel nut, tobacco and flavourings – for 5 rupees, and for those whose mobile phones need charging, Ibrahim offers the service for 10 rupees.

Sholani – one of 240 villages in Kharochhan, which counts among the least developed areas in the Thatta district of Sindh province, about 150 kilometres from the port city of Karachi – was chosen to be one of 18 villages to be provided with solar panels. The panels came from the Sindh Agricultural and Forestry Workers Coordinating Organisation (SAFWCO), a local non- governmental organisation which is implementing the programme with technical and financial support from the World Bank-funded Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund.

SAFWCO director Suleman Abro says the lives of about 5,000 people have been affected by the panels. The village now has streetlights. Each household also got solar panels to light two bulbs and power an electric fan for four hours.

Far from the national electricity grid, Sholani is a place where government- supplied electricity is unlikely to pass through – even within the next decade – considering the steep infrastructure costs and the burgeoning energy crisis the country is struggling to grapple with.

Roughly 35 percent of Pakistan’s population of 170 million live in places like Sholani that are still not connected to the national grid, said Arif Alauddin, director of the Alternative Energy Development Board. Some 130 million people lack access to natural gas as well.

“Since every household had at least three mobile phones, they have been provided with charging units as it was costing them 10 rupees to charge one cell phone,” Liaquat Panhwar, SAFWCO spokesperson, told IPS.

To guarantee that villagers bear maintenance and operational cost themselves, SAFWCO had to collect a deposit of 30,000 rupees (350 U.S. dollars) before the solar panels were installed. The villagers also provided the labour during installation. Every village has an organisation that ensures collection of 100 rupees (1.17 dollars) every month for maintaining and operating the solar panels and the batteries.

The happiest here are women who have discovered a newfound camaraderie now that they can spend time together after sundown. “We don’t have to worry about cooking in the day, as we know there will be enough light to get our work done,” said a young woman. Few in Sholani have latrines at home. Women expressed that when they now go out at night to relieve themselves, they need not be afraid.

“They were spending anywhere between 1,000 to 1,200 rupees [11 to 14 dollars] each month just on kerosene oil and candles. And this does not include the time spent on gathering wood which they use for cooking,” said Panhwar.

In Pakistan, people still use imported kerosene oil, draining foreign exchange, Alauddin said. And while 15 percent of the income of the urban rich goes into buying energy, he added that the rate goes up to as much as 35 percent for the poor, who spend between five to seven times more than their rich counterparts – those living in urban areas with access to grid electricity and piped gas – on energy.

Alauddin told IPS he foresees the situation going “from bad to worse” in the coming years unless something is done about it, “like increasing the share of domestic energy resources in our energy mix.”

Solar panels provide a solution. Many villagers in Sholani like Halima Jaffar, 32 and mother of five, have not bought kerosene oil for the last six months.

Jaffar led IPS to her one-room hut and showed off her prized possession: A sewing machine, which has brought a world of change into her life. She bought the machine partly from the money she saved on kerosene during the first three months the village had electricity. At night, while others embroider, she stitches their clothes and charges them for it. “I earn at least 1,000 rupees (11 dollars) every month,” she calculated.

By tapping into renewable energy sources, reliance on imported fossil fuel can be reduced, noted Alauddin, adding that globally, governments have subsidised renewable energy programmes and even provided easy loans and other innovative financing.

But other matters are keeping Pakistan from following suit. “The financial crunch Pakistan is in, there is no money to give subsidy to anything,” explained Alauddin. In addition, he says, there are powerful lobbies supporting thermal and rental power projects because of the huge investments and profitability involved.

“Another impediment is that we have not developed systems to deliver in terms of maintenance and repair. Vendors just sell imported equipment, parts of which are assembled here,” he pointed out.

Alauddin said Pakistan boasts of a myriad renewable energy sources, but “priorities” remain on the use of thermal power.